tanka prose – Whippet Wisdom – a Highland Journey

Tanka Prose: Finding Sanctuary

a black whippet in a raincoat walking on a forest trail

A gentle rain is scenting the dry places along the trail as we climb through the forest. The vibrant green of Spring grass opens the heart. Music from a tinkling brook echoes the gratitude we are feeling. Here, we follow our instinct. We leave all that is learned behind and surrender to the knowing.

a butterfly
with tenderness
she dances
from flower to flower
pure white and breathing

a stream flowing near the bottom of a woodland hill

Wishing you all a happy Monday,

with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Settings: f/1.8 – 1/1250 s – ISO 200, f/1.8 – 1/1250 s – ISO 180 and f/5 – 1/1250 s – ISO 1000.

PI Poetry Prompt: Butterfly

Earthweal: Sanctuary

Haiku: Spring Sun

by whippetwisdom March 20, 2023

Tanka: Woodland Stream

by whippetwisdom March 9, 2023

Haiku: Catching the Sun

by whippetwisdom March 6, 2023

Puente Poetry: Gorse Blooms

by whippetwisdom March 2, 2023

Tanka: Radiant Day

by whippetwisdom February 27, 2023

Tanka: First Greens

by whippetwisdom February 23, 2023

Haiku: Catching the Light

by whippetwisdom February 20, 2023

Haiku: Circle of Pine

by whippetwisdom February 16, 2023

Tanka Prose: Circles and Spirals

a blue and white whippet in a pink harness on the beach

Walking through the dunes the scent of gorse reminds me of sun cream, our bike rides to the sea. It’s your birthday today. You would have been sixty-eight. I can imagine you silver-haired, your smile and wit still bouncing.

meditating
the circles and spirals of
a driftwood root ball
the place in our lives you held
still dearly in our hearts

a path through the dunes with blooming gorse and marram grass

In memory of our much-loved uncle Leo (1952-1997).

Wishing you all a blessed Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/2000 s – ISO 160 and f/4 – 1/1250 s – ISO 160.

Frank J Tassone’s Weekly Haikai Challenge #140: Summer Meadow – Memorial Day

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Like a Circle in a Spiral

Tanka Prose: Pink Moon Rising

a whippet in a winter jacket running across the beach

Dewdrops glitter on freshened leaves, lemon sunlight touches the grass. Our hair grows long while the shops stay closed, nature breathes easy in the open.

one more run
on these wind-swept sands
a kind place
will stay with us
when the pink moon rises

a blue and white whippet in a winter jacket standing on a wind-swept beach

Our thoughts are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones and our gratitude flows to all the health, care and supply workers who are holding everything together.

Wishing you all a blessed Tuesday,

with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/4 – 1/2000 s – ISO 100.

dVerse Poets Quadrille #101: What’s Neither Closed Nor Cancelled

Discover Prompt #2: Open

Twiglet #171: Lemon Sunlight

Word of the Day Prompt: Grace

Tanka Prose: Walking with Saigyõ

a black whippet in a black jacket striding down a mountain trail

Matsuo Bashõ (1644-1694) is one of the world’s best known haiku poets and his work has been guiding me along a poetic journey that offers me a space to pause and breathe. He carried the poems of Saigyõ (1118-1190) under his arm and I was curious to read what Bashõ was reading. Saigyõ gazed at the moon and flowers in many different places. According to Gary Snyder, Saigyõ takes the moon into his mind and out again, opening a new way of seeing the universe.

It is something I can relate to, climbing this hill. I see the colours unfolding in echoes of moonlight and sun. There are still remnants of purple on the higher ground, where the heather was late to flower.

ancestral moon
autumn’s deep places
in our heart between
the green, gold and violet
mirrors everywhere

view from a hill over heather, pine and golden birch

This piece was inspired by Saigyõ’s Mirror of the Moon (translated by Gary Snyder, 1978). I love the way Saigyõ’s tanka can be read both as the lines fall on the page and in reverse order, something I love to aim for when writing my own tanka.

Wishing you all a magical Thursday,

with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/320 s – ISO 160, f/2.8 – 1/640 s – ISO 160 and f/4 – 1/400 s – ISO 160.

Becca’s Nurturing Thursday

dVerse Poets Meeting the Bar: Critique and Craft – Imitation Practice

Your Daily Word Prompt: Incorporate

Word of the Day Prompt: Glorious

Tanka Prose: Before the Daffodils

two whippets in winter jackets by sunken wooden breakwater on the beach

Some friends believe our world began in the wrong house, locked in a life with people who thought that love alone would be enough. We can see a shadow in their eyes when they realise our beginnings.

happiness
now is all that matters
the past is cast
our scars fade with time
before the daffodils

blue whippet in pink and grey winter jacket running on the beach with a pink ball

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/5, 1/2000 s, ISO 100 and f/6.3, 1/250 s, ISO 100.

Carpe Diem #1405: New Life (“extreme haibun”)

Kristjaan at Carpe Diem invites us to write an ‘extreme haibun’, a haibun in no more than 55 words (including the haiku) about ‘New Life’. I have challenged myself to write this as tanka prose (a paragraph of prose followed by a tanka).

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Smile

dVerse Poets Open Link Night #217

dVerse Poets Pub Logo

Tanka Prose: The Carer’s Carer

For Walter and all of you who care for others.

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Walter is saying goodbye to us at dVerse Poets to take care of his wife of 32 years and put his poetry on the back-burner for a little while. Like so many of us who care for loved ones, whether four-legged or on two legs, there is so much I learned along the way from those who went there before me.

When you roll up your sleeves to look after others it is important you also take time to roll them back down and look after you. The more you look after yourself the better you are able to care for those you love.